Many sanitizing and disinfecting compositions are known in the art which employ a variety of substances as the active antimicrobial agent. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,458 to Uemo, et al. discloses mixtures of ethyl alcohol and organic acids as bactericides for food and food processing machinery and utensils. U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,300 to Karabinos, et al. discloses aqueous bactericidal compositions containing an aliphatic monocarboxylic acid of from eight to eleven carbon atoms and a non-ionic or anionic surfactant. British Patent specification 917,432 to Pennwalt Chemicals Corp. discloses sanitizing compositions comprising an alkyl aryl sulfonic acid or salt thereof, together with an acid component to generate a pH of between about pH 1.5 and pH 3.5 upon dilution in water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,040 to Wang discloses sanitizing concentrate compositions comprising an aliphatic short chain fatty acid, a hydrotrope or solubilizer for the fatty acid, and an acid to produce a pH between pH 2 and pH 5 when diluted with water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,980 to Lopes, et al. discloses concentrated antimicrobial sanitizing compositions for dilution in water comprising a dicarboxylic acid and an acidic component capable of generating a pH below about pH 5 upon dilution.
Aqueous sanitizing and disinfecting compositions which contain an anionic surfactant and an acidic component generally have short shelf lives because most surfactants lack the requisite stability in acidic aqueous solution. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide sanitizing and disinfecting compositions in stable concentrated form which are suitable for dilution in water or other suitable solvent for use as oral disinfectants and as sanitizing and disinfecting agents which are safe for use as mouthwashes, for human and animal hygiene, and for sanitizing food or food handling and processing equipment.